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With Parise and Suter apparently out of the picture, what is our next move?

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With Parise and Suter apparently out of the picture, what is our next move?

I was excited that we cleared out cap room via draft day trades so that we could be players in free agency...I had visions of Parise on Crosby's wing rivaling what Neal does on Malkin's wing, as well as a potential Suter-Letang top defensive pairing...but former Penguin employees Chuck Fletcher and Mike Yeo swooped in from Minnesota to take that dream away. Now, instead of being significantly better than we were last season, it now looks like we have taken a step back.

Brandon Sutter will be solid as our 3rd centerman (but he's still no Jordan Staal) and the other pieces that we got back in the deal (Dumoulin and Pouliot) will not be contributing to our NHL squad this year (Pouliot will play in Portland of the WHL next year, and I expect Dumoulin to start out in Wilkes-Barre of the AHL after turning pro following his junior season at B.C.). Nobody we got back in the Michalek trade will contribute in the NHL this season either. Tanner Glass will replace Asham, but we don't have anyone to replace Sullivan's contributions last season.

At this point, Malkin has Kunitz and Neal, Sutter has Cooke and Kennedy, Adams has Glass and Vitale, and Crosby has Dupuis and who-the-hell-knows. I suppose at this point, you could move Kennedy up with Crosby and Dupuis, move Vitale up with Sutter and Cooke, and insert Dustin Jeffery with Adams and Glass, but that's a step back in my mind. Crosby NEEDS a legit winger. It's time to trade in some of those assets that we have been building up via trade and the draft recently. It's time to call Anaheim about Bobby Ryan.

Last edited by RuthlessBurgher; 07-04-2012 at 01:04 PM.

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The other option is, now that Ryan Suter is out in Nashville, is that Shero could approach his old boss David Poile about going all in for Shea Weber, who was the more dominant player in that Weber-Suter defensive pairing in the Motor City. Weber is an RFA this year, and is scheduled to be a UFA next year. After losing Suter for nothing this year, Poile may want to avoid having that happen again with Weber next year. He could stick with Weber for now, see how the year goes, and then possibly move him at the trade deadline if need be. But teams typically get the best deals in trades in the summer rather than during the season. How much is too much to give up? I'd imagine that Poile would be looking for a player or two he could play now, a solid prospect, and a high draft pick. Maybe send them Simon Depres, either Paul Martin or Brooks Orpik (I'd rather part with Martin, but if Poile insists on Orpik, I might relent), a prospect like Dumoulin, Ruopp or Tangradi, and a top pick next year.

That would give us a top pairing of Letang and Weber, a second pairing of Niskanen and either Orpik or Martin (whichever Nashville didn't take), and a third pairing of Engelland and Lovejoy (with Strait and Bortuzzo in the wings for immediate depth, and Morrow, Harrington, Pouliot, and Maatta still in the system).

Last edited by RuthlessBurgher; 07-04-2012 at 03:21 PM.

NFL player locker room talk: Discussing what can be done about racial inequality and criminal justice reform.

According to the highest office in the country, some "very fine people" marched with torches in a violent protest in Charlottesville, but participating in a non-violent protest on a football field means you are an S.O.B. who should be fired.

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I would look at Ryan clowe. Not the great scorer like Neal is. But a big body that can chip in goals and ride shotgun with Sid when things get tough out there.

Ps. I disagree we can't be better then last season. We can be better if geno plays like last year and Sid returns to normal self. I dot think well suffer much with sitter in place of Jordan. Although he did break out offensively last year

We can def be better in the playoffs and that starts IMO with being more physical ( glass and vitale on the 4th should give us some better hitting). And of corse suring up the defense

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Penguins general manager Ray Shero held a conference call this afternoon with media regarding his team's efforts in free agency.

He discusses his inability to sign Zach Parise or Ryan Suter, the possibility of trades and the loss of Steve Sullivan. Here is the partial transcript:

On the process of offering contracts to Parise and Suter and waiting for them to decide:

"It took four days to find out but we respect the process. They’re both obviously very good players. They both end up on the same team in Minnesota. They’re going to help any team out. Zach as we all know is a really good two-way player, hence our interest. We thought he would be a very good fit here in Pittsburgh, short- and long-term. The same thing with Ryan Suter, a top pairing defenseman. These guys are hard to find. And as a free agent, they have the ability to choose where they want to play and the both chose to go to Minnesota."

How close did you come to landing either player?

"We never got close to anything like that in terms of any sort a verbal agreement or any sort of negotiation. We made offers to both players which were very fair and strong for both players. It became pretty apparent over the course of a few days that Ryan was probably not coming this way. In terms of Zach, we didn’t know what was going on until maybe later last night. They got together, did their thing. I guess we saw this a number of years ago with (Paul) Kariya and (Teemu) Selanne going to Colorado in a concerted effort as well. That’s what they’re going to do and we respect that. In terms of where we go from here in filling spots, you’re not going to find a Ryan Suter other there. We like the defense the way it is. If there’s a chance to upgrade, certainly we’re going to do that but there’s a number of teams that are looking for defensemen now and they’re difficult to find."

How important is it to find a winger to play with Sidney Crosby?

"If we could, that would be fantastic. It would make my life a lot easier. Sid does well with whoever he plays with and we have some pretty good forwards and a pretty good team here. Last year, we were fortunate to be able to work out a trade for James Neal. James came and signed a six-year contract recently and was named a first-team all-star and scored 40 goals. We’re getting there. That’s something we didn’t have before. Inch by inch, we’re getting there. He seemed to fit really well with (Malkin) and I’m sure, if given the opportunity he’d be great with Crosby as well. The most important thing in the job as a general manager, is putting together the best team possible. If we can find a long-term winger for Sidney, that would be fantastic. But as you can see, they’re not growing on trees here. You have to be patient. If there a chance to get someone like Zach Parise as we just tried to do, it makes a lot of sense and that’s why we tried to do it."

When did you decide to part ways with Steve Sullivan?

"We made a decision on (Sullivan) yesterday that we were going to move on anyway. We were in constant contact with his agent and he told me a couple of the team he had offers on. We talked again about it today internally and felt that for (Sullivan) it might be … we made an internal decision that (Sullivan) should probably take one of those offers and encouraged the agent to do so. In terms of missing out on anybody, no we didn’t miss out. There’s not another Suter or Parise out there. Other guys were signing, but they weren’t at this level, that’s for sure."

What does Tanner Glass offer your team?

"What Tanner brings is a guy we identified for our bottom six (forwards). He at the right age for us. He’s got a track record in the league. Great character, really good team person, can skate, get in on the forecheck, likes to create turnovers. He’s a physical guy who will fight when needed. He’s a guy who can kill penalties as well. He’s done that last year in Winnipeg. He’s been to a Stanley Cup final in Vancouver. He’s a good signing for us and I think our fans are going to be happy in Tanner Glass."

Does the salary cap give teams like the Wild a greater chance to land these players?

"It looks that way and that’s probably they way it’s been set up. Minnesota had a lot of cap space and they planned and set up for this. That’s part of the recruiting job. Zach Parise was born in Minnesota and that’s where he prefers to play at this point. Maybe it’s family reasons or professional reasons. As Penguins, we’d love to have him but I respect him. It’s no different for Jordan Staal. It was both professional and personal reasons for Jordan Staal. This is the way sports are these days. Players get to pick where they play eventually. They drive the bus in this thing. A lot of factors go into it besides just money. And there’s so much money to be had out there for these guys, they went to a place they felt would be best for them professionally and personally. In the end, that’s how the sport is now."

How does this impact your ability to sign Evgeni Malkin to a contract extension in the future?

"I said that last week when we signed Sidney, that we’re going to have (Malkin) in the next year or two looking at another extension with the Penguins. We hope that’s going to be the case. We want to make him happy as well. And we looked at what would happened if we had signed Parise or Suter and what those contracts would do a year or two out. You always try to keep that in mind. We’ve got an ownership group here that wants to win. We’ve got a team that’s good. We’re on the rise. A lot of things to offer. You always keep in mind we’ve got (Marc-Andre) Fleury up in three years. Malkin’s up in two years. (Kris) Letang is up in two years. And every teams has to look at those snaps shots and try to balance that salary cap and their assets as best as they can."

Is it posssible you could trade for Columbus' Rick Nash or Anaheim's Bobby Ryan?

"They’re under contract to their respective teams so there’s not much I can say about them. You never know what’s going to come your way. If you had asked me Tuesday before the draft that we’d be trading Jordan Staal three days later, I’d probably say no way. But it happened. It was the right thing to do for the team and the player. It worked out for both hopefully for the long run. … We’ve got a lot of assets. We’ve got cap space. … A lot of things can happen on short notice. We’ll see what the summer brings us and we’ll go from there."

How do you fill the hole in the top six forwards with Sullivan gone?

"We’re going to have to see. If we don’t fill that hole via free agency or trade, then somebody’s going to get an opportunity because we can’t play one short. We’ve always talked about (Kennedy) and the ability to make the move up and maybe it’s his time to do that. But we’re a ways away from the start of the season and we’re going to have see what comes our way. In terms of younger players, maybe it’s a Beau Bennett in time and when he gets his feet wet. You bring up Sullivan, I just want to say how a great fit he was for us. He was great for our power play and he’ll be missed. A great guy in the locker room. I just want to tip my hat to Steve. He had a really good year for us. It was a good bounce-back for him. We’re going to have to look to fill that spot. Maybe try to get a little bigger and a little younger, fine. We’ll see. I don’t know who’s looking to trade what at this point, what the cost is and free agent-wise, if anything shakes free, we’ll see what happens."

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Kennedy tore it up the second half of the season 2 years ago with Crosby and Malkin out when he got some serious ice time and PP time. I think as a top line guy with Crosby feeding him that he may be able to be a consistent 25-30 goal guy. I don't think he shies away from pressure at all after seeing what he did a couple years ago.

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Penguins general manager Ray Shero submitted a “very competitive offer” to free agent forward Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter. Even though both players opted to sign with the Minnesota Wild, Shero can still reflect on his team’s already abundant talent.

“Adding a guy like Parise or Suter would have been fantastic,” Shero said, “but we still have two First Team All-Stars coming back to add to our forward group in (Evgeni) Malkin and (James) Neal and adding Sidney Crosby. That’s a pretty good lineup already.”

Shero could also have also mentioned that Malkin and Crosby are NHL MVPs and scoring champions, or that Marc-Andre Fleury is a Stanley Cup winning goaltender, or that defenseman Kris Letang is among the best in the league.

Despite the fact that the Parise-Suter sweepstakes took four days, Shero said that the wait did not affect the Penguins’ ability to target other free agents, particularly Steve Sullivan, who played for Pittsburgh last season, but signed a contract with Phoenix.

“We didn’t miss out on anybody,” said Shero via conference call Wednesday. “You’re talking about Suter and Parise. There aren’t another Suter and Parise out there. We didn’t miss out on anybody. That’s what we were waiting on and other guys were in the same boat. We knew that guys were signing, but they aren’t at this level, that’s for sure.

“We made a decision on Sullivan (Tuesday) that we were going to move on anyway. I was in constant contact with his agent. He told me the couple teams he had offers from. We talked again internally and made a decision that Sullivan should take one of those offers and encouraged the agent to do so.”

With Sullivan out, an opening is created among the Penguins’ top-six forward group. And Shero said the team has several options for filling in the hole.

“If we don’t fill that hole via free agency or trade then someone is going to get the opportunity,” he said. “We can’t play one short, that’s for sure. We’ve always talked about (Tyler Kennedy) having the ability to move up and maybe it’s his time to do that. We are a ways away from the start of the season. We’ll see what comes our way.

“We’ll do our homework and see if we can upgrade our team at some point and see what the summer brings us.”

Something else the Penguins have to keep in mind as they move forward into the summer and examine their roster is the big picture – which includes the team’s core stars needing new contracts soon.

“We have Fleury up in three years, Malkin up in two years, Letang up in two years,” Shero said. “Every team has to look at those snap shots and try to balance that salary cap as best they can.”

The Penguins also have an added advantage, and it may help as the team looks to improve in the future.

“The one thing we do have now that we haven’t had in a while is cap space,” Shero said. “That’s something we can bank on moving forward and we’ll see where that takes us.”

[URL]http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=637225[/URL]

NFL player locker room talk: Discussing what can be done about racial inequality and criminal justice reform.

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How bout Alexander Semin? I think he could be affordable given his track record. I bet a lot of folks would be turned off by him. But maybe we could pair him with Malkin and get more value out of him than most other places could.

Then plug in Neal with Crosby.

Another option is getting Rick Nash from Columbus. Not sure what that would take. This would be the safer route and might be the first call I'd make.

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Originally Posted by flippy

How bout Alexander Semin? I think he could be affordable given his track record. I bet a lot of folks would be turned off by him. But maybe we could pair him with Malkin and get more value out of him than most other places could.

Alexander Semin is on the verge of signing a 1-year deal with the [URL="http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/teams/pit"]Pittsburgh Penguins[/URL], according to a report out of Russia.

Getty Images After failing to sign [URL="http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nhl/1655/zach-parise"]Zach Parise[/URL], the Pittsburgh Penguins have turned their attentions to a couple of other high-profile free agents to fill a top-six role on the wing.
The first, [URL="http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nhl/571/shane-doan"]Shane Doan[/URL], is no surprise considering every other team in the league seems to be interested in bringing the rugged veteran aboard.
The second, [URL="http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nhl/1609/alexander-semin"]Alex Semin[/URL], is more interesting given [URL="http://www.csnwashington.com/hockey-washington-capitals/capitals-talk/Semins-agent-angry-over-criticism?blockID=733818"]the opinions many hold about the 28-year-old Russian[/URL].
Pens coach Dan Bylsma has his own opinion.
“[URL="http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nhl/1609/alexander-semin"]Alexander Semin[/URL] has scored 40 goals in this league and is a dangerous player,” Bylsma said today, [URL="https://twitter.com/pgshelly/status/222769054291730435"]as per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette[/URL].
A [URL="http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/free_agency/2012/07/10/alexander_semin_pittsburgh_penguins_rumours/"]report out of Russia[/URL] has Semin on the verge of signing a one-year deal with the Penguins.
Suffice to say, for a player looking to get his career back on track, skating with the likes of [URL="http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nhl/1794/sidney-crosby"]Sidney Crosby[/URL] and [URL="http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nhl/1810/evgeni-malkin"]Evgeni Malkin[/URL] is a pretty good way to do it.

According to the highest office in the country, some "very fine people" marched with torches in a violent protest in Charlottesville, but participating in a non-violent protest on a football field means you are an S.O.B. who should be fired.

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Semin...yuck. Nash could be a possibility. Pittsburgh is on his short list of teams that he'd be willing to accept a trade to. At first, I was turned off by his salary being up close to what Crosby and Malkin makes (and I believe he has 6 more years at that number), but if you compare it to what Parise and Suter ultimately got in terms of front loaded deals making $12 million for the first couple of season and then only $1-$2 million for the last few, Nash would provide more cost-certainly in terms of what Lemieux and Burkle would have to give out.

According to the highest office in the country, some "very fine people" marched with torches in a violent protest in Charlottesville, but participating in a non-violent protest on a football field means you are an S.O.B. who should be fired.